July 22, 1999

Local support for the planned redevelopment of the Avtex Fibers site in Front Royal led federal officials to decide to come to the town Friday to announce creation of a program to encourage the reuse of Superfund sites across the nation, officials said.

Under the pilot program, 10 Superfund sites, including the Avtex site, will receive grants of up to $100,000 to be used for their "recycling," an Environmental Protection Agency official said.

EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner will visit the Avtex site Friday to announce the program, her spokeswoman, Kim Ruby, said Wednesday.

"It's a great site with a phenomenal group of people working together," Ms. Ruby said. "That was a big part of it [the decision to hold the news conference]. We wanted to recognize everybody's hard work. We were very impressed with all their great work."

Also to be announced Friday is a grant from the U.S. Soccer Federation Foundation that will be used to create soccer fields at Ed Stump Park, which is part of the Avtex site.

The site's potential for development was a crucial factor in its inclusion in the program, Ms. Ruby said.

"We looked at sites the agency felt had strong potential for redevelopment," she said. "We met with local officials to get their input. We determined those had the most potential."

The agency's overriding goal was to pick sites that could serve as a model for other communities selected for development grants, she said.

Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority member William P. "Bill" Barnett said area residents were down but not out when the rayon plant closed in 1989.

"Immediately after the closing of Avtex, we had 13 percent unemployment and we had a net loss of jobs for many years in a row," he said.

Area unemployment in the early 1990s reached about 18 percent.

"Avtex was a huge blow to our community, but this community didn’t just stop and see what the government was going to do to correct the problem," Barnett said. "The citizens, Town Council and Board of Supervisors worked together to revitalize our economy."

Because of those efforts, the county has become one of the leading jurisdictions statewide in economic development, unemployment has plunged, and "we have a proven track record of being able to develop industrial and mixed-use facilities," he said.

"I think it's a kudo for the hard work many people put into this," Vice Mayor Tony F. Carter said. "It shows Front Royal-Warren County is one of the leading places in the state for business."

The 440-acre Avtex facility was named to the national Superfund list in 1986. It voluntarily closed three years later after more than 2,000 violations of environmental laws;

Friday's news conference announcing the two Avtex grants will be at l p.m. at the site and will be open to the public.